New Monona Law Tickets Parents of Bullies

By Liceth Alarcon Cuevas, age 13

Bullies usually don’t pay for what they do, and often parents have no idea what’s happening. But now, the city of Monona has decided to hold parents accountable for their children’s actions.

Parents in Monona can now be ticketed if their children repeatedly bully others. According to Monona Police Chief Wally Ostrenga, the ordinance didn’t follow a specific incident, but grew out of a general concern about the consequences of bullying, such as school shootings and suicides. He thinks the law will rarely be used . It is an option in cases where parents are uncooperative. Parents who actually make an effort to correct their child’s behavior would not be ticketed, Ostrenga told the Wisconsin State Journal .

Parents will first be informed by an officer in writing before they receive a ticket. If their child bullies again within 90 days, then the parent would face a ticket. The first violation carries a $144 fine. Any following violations in the same year carry $177 fines each.

The law is part of a broader anti-bullying ordinance. The ordinance forbids any person 12 years or older from engaging in any form of bullying. Some forms of conduct mentioned in the ordinance are already forbidden by state statute, but the city wanted to be definite about its stand against bullying.

Hopefully this new law will help decrease the amount of bullying in Monona, and serve as a model for other cities. We applaud Monona's efforts to end bullying and its horrifying consequences.

[Source: Wisconsin State Journal ]

As Charlie Sheen says, this article is "W!GIINNN" – Teige , As Charlie Sheen says, this article is "W!GIINNN" (2016-04-27 18:26)
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